Worlds Beyond
by Theodore Hawkwood
Summary: Set in the Misfit universe, shortly after TSOCL, the Misfits and X-men encounter a threat from beyond their reality...
1. Masada

Masada

Disclaimer: I own neither Kingdom Hearts nor GI Joe or the X-men Evolution. The Misfits were created by Red Witch. The characters of Captain Julie Atkins and Harold Maitland are my creation.

Red Witch and all Misfit writers – How about the lot of us creating a Misfits C2 Community? We need a compilation of our lot.

* * *

"_Since we long ago resolved never to be servants to the Romans, nor to any other than to God Himself, Who alone is the true and just Lord of mankind, the time is now come that obliges us to make that resolution true in practice...We were the very first that revolted, and we are the last to fight against them; and I cannot but esteem it as a favor that God has granted us, that it is still in our power to die bravely, and in a state of freedom." _**– Elazar Ben Yair at Masada, 73 AD.**

* * *

The hot sun of the Judean Desert baked everything under its rays. Most of the few tourists in the area sought shade, but the sun was all but ignored by the lone figure who roamed, seemingly without aim atop the plateau. He stood, blinking in the harsh sun despite the sunglasses he wore. Throughout his life the ruins of the fortress atop the plateau of Masada had been an odd comfort of sorts. He drew some sort of meaning, some purpose from the ruins.

Israel had practically become home for the man since his ninth birthday. And now, because of a tempting offer from that Nick Fury guy from SHIELD, he could repay a debt many years old far more fully. But then he did not want to leave Israel, his adopted homeland. As Harold Maitland mulled his options he watched a group of Israeli Defense Force (IDF) non-coms preparing an area for a ceremony. He knew what was coming at sunset. By torchlight procession a group of IDF recruits would be taken atop the plateau, here at Masada, to swear their allegiance to the nation of Israel.

Harold Maitland closed his eyes for a second, imagining that he was one of the zealots walking the perimeter of the old Herodian fortress, watching the vast Roman army encamped on the desert below, building the siege ramp with hundreds of slaves. He imagined it was the final night on the fortress after the wood and earth wall (The more the battering rams struck the wall, the stronger it became) which the Zealots had erected after the Roman battering rams breached the stone one had burned down. The Romans were set to enter the fortress that night.

He imagined he was one of the ten Zealots selected to kill the others in the fort, rather than permit them to fall into the hands of the Romans. After the ten men carried out their grisly task, one of them would be chosen to kill the other nine and he would fall upon his own sword as soon as his task was completed.

He could feel the hair on the back of his neck standing on end as he killed his fellow defenders, as he had been ordered to do. The last speech of Elazar Ben Yair was but an hour old when the bloodshed began. Now ten men were left alive, blood from their victims staining their robes. The lot was cast, it was he who was to kill the other nine. With a heavier heart, as if his heart could have weighed more since the killing of the other occupants, he set about his task, killing men he fought alongside with since the start of the Jewish Revolt.

"Maitland?" came the voice behind him, "It's time."

"I accept." Maitland replied, as he looked into the face of Nick Fury.

* * *

Captain Julie Atkins walked into the Infirmary/Medlab of the Pit, alongside the blonde nurse, Bree. She was still fighting the effects of jetlag, having been flown in from Washington DC. Anyone glancing her way would have seen a woman in her late twenties, with a slender build and short brown hair in the blue Class A uniform of the US Air Force. She was more than just another pretty face, she was an intelligence/counter-intelligence expert from the Pentagon, assigned to this new duty station after General Hawk stated he needed additional intelligence personnel, particularly where the Misfits were concerned.

She wasn't entirely fond of the transfer. Sure she was great at handling intelligence and being assigned to GI Joe would certainly bolster her career, but why assign her to the Misfits? Frankly mutants gave her the jitters. They could do some really amazing things, walk through walls, bench press pickup trucks, and levitate jets…What if they decided to turn hostile on humanity?

She was so lost in thought that she blundered right into a man in his early thirties, with short black hair, intense gray eyes, and the swarthy complexion of one who spent a lot of time in the sun. He was in civilian clothes but had a pass clipped to his shirt that had the word SHIELD written on it. Currently there was coffee covering the green t-shirt he wore.

"Sorry." She said.

"It's alright." The man replied.

"I take it you're here for the Misfits?" Julie asked.

"I'm sorry, I am not at liberty to discuss that." The man replied, from the sound of his voice he sounded like a Canadian, "And you?"

"Sorry, that's classified." Julie replied, "But I gather what you can't discuss and what's classified for me is the same."

"Perhaps." The man replied, "Harold Maitland."

"Julie Atkins." Julie replied and noticed the writing on the man's t-shirt, picking it out instantly as Hebrew or some Middle Eastern language similar to it, and said, "You've been to Israel?"

"You could say that." Hal replied.

"Guys, right this way. If nothing's changed from your last medical exams you two are in perfect mental and physical health." Bree began, "Though the former might be in doubt when you meet the Misfits…"

* * *

Duke read the two file dossiers on the latest additions to the GI Joe Team as he sat in the General's office with Hawk and Flint. "OK, I kind of see your point of needing an intelligence officer in a hurry." Duke said to Flint, "But why did you pick one that has a phobia of mutants."

"I didn't pick her, she was assigned here." Flint protested.

"Knowing my luck," Hawk replied, "The Jugglers assigned Captain Atkins to us just to make a point, they can make my life miserable whenever they want to."

"Not to play the devil's advocate, sir," Flint began, "But she is very well qualified."

As he spoke, Flint opened Julie's dossier and handed it to Hawk who opened it and read it. The information contained was:

**Name: Atkins, Julie.**

**Branch of Service: United States Air Force**

**Rank: Captain (O-3)**

**DOB: April 13, 1975**

**Place of Birth: Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts**

**Specialty: Intelligence Officer**

**Misc: Graduate, top 1/3 of class at Stanford University in 1997 degree in Cryptography**

**Served as Intelligence Advisor for Pentagon 2001-2004**

**NATO Attache Office, 1998-1999**

**Advisory work for SHIELD 1999-2000**

**Advisory work for Mutant Affairs committee 2000-2001**

"Our other guy seems to be a bit run of the mill. SHIELD recruited him but we just managed to sweet talk Nick Fury into turning him over to us." Duke replied, "However, my only complaint about Captain Atkins is that she has no field experience.

Hawk opened Hal Maitland's dossier and the information contained inside it was as follows:

**Name: Maitland, Harold**

**Branch of Service: Israeli Border Guard (MAGAV) **

**Rank: 1st Lieutenant (Israeli equivalent)**

**DOB: July 14, 1974**

**Place of Birth: Nova Scotia, Canada**

**Specialty: Counterterrorism/Sniping**

**Misc: Served in PALSAR Golany (Israeli Pathfinder unit) 1994-1997**

**Served with Gaza YAMAS unit 1997-2004**

**Sniper Certified.**

**Mountain warfare certified.**

**Combat deployments from 1998-2004 to Gaza, Beit Lehem, Hebron, and Nablus.**

"Well we have Roadblock, Cover Girl, Lowlight, Spirit, Blind Master, and even Shipwreck to bring her up to speed." Hawk replied.

The phone rang just then and Flint answered it briefly then hung up, "They've been cleared through medical, in perfect physical and mental health."

"It's their mental health they should worry about." Duke said, "Get ready for the fur to fly…"

* * *

"Nervous?" Harold said.

"No." Julie replied. _C'mon, mom taught you all about poise, keep it. It wouldn't do to fear the freaks. _

The two were riding in the jeep with Cover Girl and the Blind Master, in company with quite a few bags of groceries.

"You guys have enough food to feed an entire squadron." Julie remarked as Blind Master made a sharp turn and a few potatoes fell onto her lap.

"Trust me, if you saw how much the Blob eats, our grocery load wouldn't seem that much." Cover Girl replied.

"Uh, why is the blind guy driving?" Harold remarked.

Cover Girl indicated her left had, which was in a brace, "I sprained my wrist yesterday. And since Blind Master and I are the only ones that aren't banned from ever entering Publix Supermarkets, he's the only one driving."

"OK, **_now _**I'm nervous." Julie replied.

"Actually, Blind Master is a much better driver than some people on our team." Cover Girl remarked.

"Such as yourself." Blind Master deadpanned.

"I tell you the Nativity Set was not my fault." Cover Girl remarked.

"So when you drove off the road and completely totaled a Nativity Scene _and _a Humvee, it was intentional?" the African Ninja master said.

"What?" Julie asked.

"Don't ask." Blind Master replied.

"Oh yeah, I'm a better driver than Shipwreck at any rate." Cover Girl remarked.

"**_Polly _**drives better than Shipwreck." Blind Master remarked.

"Who's Polly?" Julie asked.

"Shipwreck's parrot." Cover Girl remarked.

"Who's Shipwreck?" Harold asked.

"He's the saltiest sailor to have sailed the seven seas." Blind Master replied, "He is also King Troublemaker…"

"I hope you didn't buy Mexican food this time, Blind Master." Cover Girl remarked, "You do remember what happened with BA's Mystery Mexican Mayhem…"

"Who is this Blob fellow?" Julie asked.

"His real name's Fred Dukes, his power is super strength and indestructible skin. Side effect is an enormous appetite and being slightly overweight." Harold remarked.

"How do you know this?" Julie asked, her apprehension growing.

"Easy." Harold replied as he was reading through the files on the kids, "They can't be that bad. I guarantee they are just like any other group of teenagers…"

"My friend, something tells me you might regret saying that." Cover Girl remarked.

The first thing Julie saw when she stepped out of the jeep was a fast moving silver streak, "Hi Cover Girl and Blind Master! Whoa, new people here!"

"Remember, just like any normal teenager." Harold said to Julie with a grin.

"Why I resent that remark?" Pietro said, "Did you call _moi _normal? I have never been so **insulted** in all my life and…"

"PIETRO!!!!!" came the shout from the front door.

"Uh oh! Gotta go! Nice chattin' with ya' doll…" Pietro said, giving Julie a kiss and running off.

"Oh no you don't…" a teenager with short black hair, wearing black jeans and a red t-shirt said. Julie's eyes widened noticeably when she saw the rosebushes uproot themselves and chase Pietro down the street.

Seconds later they could hear, "OW! OW! OW! OUCH! Wanda, did you have to bring the CACTI to life! OW OW HELP! SOMEBODY! SAVE ME!"

"Normal teenagers huh?" Julie asked, looking daggers at Harold.

"It can't be that bad." Harold replied.

Just then they were both ensnared by a weighted net that came flying out of nowhere. "AHA gotcha speedy!" came the shout as they were both drenched with a hose, "Speed is no match for cunning and Arcade's new and improved net launcher ha ha ha, whoops…Uh, sorry guys." Said a red headed teenager with glasses, "I kinda made a mistake."

"Let me guess, Pietro." Julie remarked.

"Yeah, I gotta get him back for his unkind remarks about my dead girlfriend…" Arcade replied.

"Dead girlfriend…" Harold said, "OK, so I relent you were right, these kids do have a few issues…"

"Let's get you guys settled, shall we." Cover Girl said, removing the net.

"Where are our rooms?" Julie asked.

"They're upstairs." Cover Girl said, "Down the hall and to your left."

Both of the new Misfit handlers walked upstairs and saw their rooms were adjacent. One of them was right next to the room of a teenage boy, as evidenced by the rock band posters, the crumpled t-shirts, and the amplified and electric guitar next to the bed. "I'll flip you for who gets the room next door to the heavy metal kid." Julie said.

"You're on." Harold replied, removing an Israeli coin from his pocket.

Julie stopped him and pulled out a quarter, "A two headed coin can be spotted a mile away. I call heads."

"Tails." Harold replied. Julie flipped the coin and it landed on heads.

"Damn." Harold replied, and looking enviously at Julie he said, "I guess someone's gonna get better sleep and a much better view."

Harold was referring Julie's view of the grove of plants that the Joes had planted ages ago. Her window looked right out over that and also she had good views of the sunsets. Julie closed the door, removed her clothes in order to prepare to shower when the green scaled creature with the lion's mane suddenly appeared in the middle of the room.

Julie screamed in surprise and hurriedly grabbed a bathrobe, "Wh-What are you?"

"I am Xi." Replied the creature, "I am pleased to meet you. I was practicing my invisibility…"

"Get out of my room!" Julie shouted, "OUT!"

As Xi complied, he stood outside and asked, "Why humans dislike being seen naked is beyond me. I have no such compunctions…"

"Oh God!" Lance said, as he walked out of the bathroom, "Xi, do I have to go over modesty with you again."

"You've got an interesting house." Harold remarked as he checked his IMI Jericho 941F handgun and put it into the small, concealed holster underneath his untucked t-shirt.

"You have no idea." Lance said, "Lance Alvers, also known as Avalanche."

"Harold Maitland, just call me Hal, I'm one of your new 'handlers', though I dislike the term." Harold replied, "The lady whom your buddy walked in on is Captain Atkins, the other new handler."

"DINNER IS SERVED!" echoed through the house, as well as the clangs from a large, brass ship's bell.

* * *

Dinner went about as normally as it could be expected to go in the Misfit household with the usual insanity, explosions, Roadblock having a coronary, and food fights. Several hours later everyone in the house was asleep.

_The target was young, not quite sixteen. He was the same age as Mokey, one of the kids on the multinational archaeological team that Maitland had grown up amongst since his boyhood. The AK-47 clutched in his hands seemed too large for his young hands and his slim body didn't seem capable of absorbing its kick. Hal Maitland wasn't that much older, nineteen years old, with his twentieth birthday two days away. His orders were to kill this person. From his rooftop hide he was providing sniper cover for an assault on a Palestinian stronghold. The M-14 sniper rifle was set on its bipod and he centered the crosshairs on the youth's head._

'_So young, yet so dead…' Maitland thought as he made the final corrections of aim. He knew he couldn't allow a moment of hesitation, the boy had to die in order for the attack to be carried out successfully. 'Think of training, just aim and squeeze…' _

_Harold's finger tightened on the trigger as he let the air out of his lungs in a slow, controlled fashion. The break of the trigger surprised him as the rifle bucked, sending a 7.62 mm round downrange that split the skull of the boy apart. The attack commenced and Hal Maitland remained at his post, staring at the boy lying in the puddle of his own blood until the soldiers moved the corpse…_

Hal awoke suddenly. It was just after midnight and sleep was not going to be a possibility for a few more hours at least. He grabbed his dog tags from the bedpost. On the chain was the standard single rectangular IDF dog tag that contained his vital information written on it twice (name, social security number, and blood type) that was designed to be broken in half if he was killed. The other dog tag was one that was broken in half, suggesting it's former wearer was no longer among the living. Also on the chain, unusual for an Israeli soldier since most of them were Jewish, was a crucifix.

Hal dressed himself, put his boots on and clipped his pistol to his side. He knew he was on base, but in Israel it never helped to be slightly paranoid. He put two spare clips in a belt pouch at his side and put on a jacket as he walked outdoors.

As he began his aimless stroll he heard a sound behind him of feet softly scraping the ground. He turned, drawing his pistol as he did so. What he saw behind him were three creatures the like of which he'd never seen before. They were black as night, save for their two glowing yellow eyes. Their antennae twitched as they reached for him with clawed hands.

Hal flicked the safety off his IMI Jericho 941F and fired five 9mm rounds that killed the first attacker. He turned the pistol to the right and squeezed off three rounds in a tight pattern around the chest of the second creature. He fired four more rounds, hitting the second creature in the head and hitting the third three times. He fired two more rounds after it, drilling the creature through the back. It disappeared before he reloaded a fresh magazine into the weapon.

* * *

"Stressful moving in, I see." Roadblock said, when he walked downstairs to find Julie rummaging through the fridge, "Burning the midnight oil, I guess that makes three."

"What?" Julie asked, "Oh, yeah, I saw Harold walk outside just now."

"They're good kids, I hope you see, because they'll grow on you." Roadblock said.

"Hopefully after teaching I won't need a brew." Julie remarked, and then glared, "How did you get me to do that?"

"Speaking in rhyme is a special skill." Roadblock said, "And it's not the result of some crazy pill…"

"Night time seems to be the only time for peace and quiet here." Julie replied.

"Yes it is, I do fear." Roadblock replied, as he put some water into the tea kettle. Just then he heard the sounds of gunshots.

"That better be night firing exercises." Julie remarked.

"I don't think so…" Roadblock said, running upstairs and grabbing his gun. Julie followed suit and both of them ran outside to see Hal Maitland crouched in a practiced firing stance, his 9mm Jericho pistol out.

"Thank God! I got two of those SOBs, the third one got away." Hal replied, indicating two dead creatures at his feet, each of them having been shot with three to five 9mm rounds.

"What are they?" Julie asked.

"Beats me." Hal replied, "It wasn't in the intelligence report. I just went out for an evening stroll and these jackasses just appear out of nowhere."

Lying at Hal's feet were two creatures, about half the height of a man. Both of them were all black, with antennae and glowing yellow eyes. Black blood lay in pools around them. There was also a trail of black blood leading away from where Hal had been strolling. Several 9mm casings and a discarded magazine lay on the ground.

"Call security immediately." Roadblock said, "And get those creatures to Lifeline and Airtight so they can analyze them."

* * *

TBC (Up next the other thread of the storyline of Invasion. What do Airtight and Lifeline find when they dissect the creatures Hal just killed? Don't worry I'll go into more detail on each of my OCs in due time.)


	2. The Survivor

The Survivor

Disclaimer: I own neither Kingdom Hearts nor GI Joe or the X-men Evolution. The Misfits were created by Red Witch. H.G. Wells is the author of the Time Machine, which inspired this particular work. Van Helsing belongs to Universal Studios, but the character of Filbert Maitland however is my creation.

AN: I'll get back into the other storyline momentarily, this is to introduce the other thread of the story. 

Red Witch – It wouldn't feel right to have a Misfit community without you being in charge of the whole affair since you created it, I figure it'd be best if you manage the C2 community.

* * *

Great Britain, 1888: Disorienting. If one word could describe the sensations felt by the time machine this word would be it. The student felt that sensation as he was propelled half an hour forward in time. The machine came to a halt and the jarring impact caused him to become disoriented.

Filbert Maitland pulled his watch from his pocket; it read six thirty in the evening where the clock on the wall read seven o'clock. The Creator of the time machine stood on the other side of the room smiled in his enigmatic way. "You see, Filby, the concept of time travel truly does work." The Creator said.

"It's remarkable." Filby said, at a loss for words.

"But traveling in space as well, that was the design flaw of my original machine." The Creator said, "That is why the Morlocks were able to get a hold of it."

"Turning the dial to the right of the control levers can send you certain distances in space as well." The Creator replied, "I do believe I've ironed out all the bugs in this thing at long last."

There was a knock at the door and the Creator said, "Come in."

Entering the room was a young woman, about nineteen years old, with dark brown hair and eyes, a slim figure and a kind countenance. "Amelia, how is your father doing?" the Creator said.

"He is not well." Amelia replied, "He is in a bad way."

As she entered the room, Amelia had been sure to bar the door. The Creator had always been rather secretive about his work, especially since that day he returned, two years earlier, beaten up as though he'd been in a street fight and babbling on about Morlocks and Eloi and the like. It seemed too fantastic to be true, but the Creator told it with so much conviction that it had to be true.

"Perhaps Dr. Lanyon could be of better help than we." Filby replied, still feeling slightly woozy from his trip thirty minutes into the future.

"Do you have the medicine for my father?" Amelia asked Filby.

"I bought it from the Chemist earlier this afternoon." Filby replied.

"Thank you Filby." Amelia replied, "You've truly been a good friend…"

_Friend? Is that all I am to you Amelia? _Filby thought. "You're welcome. I only wish my friendship could be better expressed better than searching for the chemicals your father needs to heal his infirmity." Filby replied.

"You've been a true friend since I came to Britain from America eight years ago." Amelia replied.

Before Filby could reply there the sound of pounding against the heavy wooden door resonated. Filby instinctively grabbed a crowbar from the nearest work bench and asked the Creator, "Who is it?"

"Open up! Do you want to die old man!" came the shout.

"I must confess, Filby, some of the parts of my machine I acquired from dealings with an unsavory man…" the Creator replied, taking an old revolver from his coat, "I must reap what I have sown, but I will not sell my life cheaply."

The Creator's face took on a sad expression, "You've been the son I've never had, Filby, these past three years you've been a great help."

"You've been a second father to me as well." Filby said, choking back emotion, "What of Amelia?"

"They will permit her safe passage, Filby." The Creator said, "And thank you, Filby, but you must go."

"But…" Filby protested.

"The blueprints…They must not fall into his hands." The Creator said, throwing them into the seat of the time machine.

As he did a creature the like of which neither Amelia nor Filby had ever seen jumped through the window. It was shorter than either human; its skin was black as night, its eyes glowed yellow and its hands were twisted claws. It leapt for Amelia and Filby shoved her away, swinging the crowbar as he did. The bludgeon connected with the creature and Filby could hear the sound of its skull fracturing.

The door buckled and finally gave way. More of the shadow creatures came swarming through the door and behind them was a fellow in a black mask. The Creator fired shots from his pistol, some going wide, one or two hitting their target but inevitably he ran out of ammunition and Filby watched in horror as they swarmed over him. Amelia screamed and her scream galvanized Filby into action. Enraged he charged towards the creatures, swinging the crowbar, fracturing skull and limb as he did so. A creature jumped onto Amelia's back and Filby stabbed the crowbar at it, impaling it through one eye.

"Filby! Run!" Amelia shouted, "Save the blueprints! Save yourself!"

The creatures held Amelia down, dragging her off. Safe passage, hah!

Filby blinked back a tear as he activated the control levers on the time machine and turned the dial for an unknown destination and time. The room spun crazily and his view of all around him distorted as the machine began its journey. He saw things that he couldn't explain, worlds similar and different from his own, distant lands, a star blinking out before he finally blacked out himself.

* * *

Three Hours Later: The machine finally stopped spinning and disgorged Filby into an open field. He had no idea where he was, what country he was in, or even what century. All he could tell was that it was night time. He folded the blueprints up and stuffed them into the pocket of his suit jacket. It was a bit too cool for the clothes he wore as he removed the control levers from the time machine. Without the two rods the machine would simply not run. The time machine chronometer read that it was still 1888 and he'd merely traveled three hours into the future.

He went to inventory what he had on him, which wasn't much really. His pocket watch, a handful of matches, the crowbar and the control levers and blueprints. There was a river flowing nearby and having grown up in Australia until the age of fourteen he understood that if one follows a river one usually finds civilization.

He'd not gone but a mile when he encountered the creatures from the lab again. The swarmed towards him and Filby was determined to make his last stand. They would get the plans over his dead body. He backed up into a tree, preventing the Heartless from sneaking up from behind him. They still came towards him and he swung the crowbar, smashing in the head of the first attacker. With desperate strength that overcame his dizziness and weakness, Filby fought against them, the crowbar making hollow cracking sounds as it connected with flesh and smashed bones.

One of the antennae headed beasts was limping away as the crowbar had smashed its right leg. He swung again and caught a leaping creature in the midsection, breaking ribs. They came towards him, a like a determined band of thugs desiring to claim their victim. Filby's face took on a grim expression, he was going to make them pay dearly for those blueprints, and already three of them lay dead in pools of black blood. He was going to kill as many of those little bastards as possible, because they robbed him of two people important in his life. He swung the crowbar again as two of them jumped his way. The first he knocked back. He turned towards the second monster and jabbed the crowbar into its eye socket.

There were too many of them and Filby knew eventually he would tire out and they would easily take the blueprints away from him. He kept swinging the crowbar, breaking bones and killing Heartless that came too close. Sensing he was tiring they jumped him in a large group. Filby pulled several matches from his pocket and struck them throwing them around the place. The resulting fire on the dry grass would kill them both and ensure the plans didn't fall into the hands of his attackers…

"That's odd." Carl, the friar, said to the man in the black duster and full brimmed hat, "Smoke near the river…"

"Where there's smoke, there's fire, Carl, come, let's go." Van Helsing declared. The two men urged their horses into action and Van Helsing drew his two pistols.

As they rounded the trail bend they could see the grass was on fire and some of the strangest creatures they'd yet seen. They were short, about the same height as Dwergi, with glowing yellow eyes and antennae. Their hands ended in twisted claws and several of them were on fire. There were three of them swarming around a man barely conscious, a crowbar lying just a few feet away and a box of matches which he had presumably used to start the fire.

Van Helsing didn't hesitate, he knew evil when he saw it, and began to shoot at the strange little beasts. He took them down in one or two bullets, sending the careening end over end and sprawling in death. As he did so, Carl rode his horse through the flames and dragged the unconscious young man to safety.

* * *

A few days later: As slowly Filby opened his eyes, the first thing he noticed was that he had numerous wounds, mostly scratches and deep cuts. "Where…"

"You're in the Vatican my son." A voice said. It belonged to a Frenchman, "Cardinal Jinette, and who are you?"

"Filby." The man replied, for some odd reason he remembered very little, only fleeing from the monsters with the glowing yellow eyes, the name of someone named Amelia and the fact that she was in danger, and that there were some important plans he had to guard.

"Short for Filbert, I imagine." Cardinal Jinette began.

"Yes." Filby said.

"Cardinal…" Carl said, as he entered, "I finished dissecting one of the creatures we found attacking our young friend."

"Yes Friar, what did you find?" Jinette replied.

"They are entirely unrelated to the Dwergi, which proves my initial theory wrong." Carl began, "But I've made an interesting discovery. They have no hearts. What they have instead is a hard, bony casing one fourth the size of a human heart filled only with a vacuum."

"Truly such a creature can only be evil." Jinette replied.

"The plans, what became of them?" Filby asked.

"They are safe here, now." Jinette began.

"Who are you people…?" Filby asked.

"We do not exist." Jinette began, "Once I answer that question there is no turning back."

"Can you help me find someone?" Filby asked, "Her name's Amelia and she is in danger…"

"We have existed since time immemorial, protecting the world from an evil so ancient humanity has no idea it even exists." Jinette replied, "We are the Knights of the Holy Order. We will help you with your search, if you will help us…"

"I will." Filby replied.

"Good, your training will begin as soon as you have fully recovered." Cardinal Jinette began.

* * *

Five years later: Filby stood in the bowels of the secret chambers underneath the Vatican. No longer dressed in the light weight suit he would likely have worn for the balmy fall day. Instead he wore rough gray working clothes, and over that he wore a long gray duster, concealing the many weapons the many worlds were likely to throw at a man in his line of work.

The years of searching and hardship had given him a weathered look. Much of the boyishness of the young student who was a protégé at the Creator's lab was gone. It was replaced by a weariness, of a search that was forced to be put on hold. For the five years Cardinal Jinette sent him to track the creatures, which he now knew as Heartless, all over Europe. Finally it appeared that he had finally killed the last of them.

"We need you to carry out one more task for us." Cardinal Jinette said.

Filby's face was emotionless, but inside his face fell. For five years he had been forced to put his search for Amelia aside whenever the Vatican deemed he was to carry out another task. "What is it you require of me, Father?" Filby replied.

"That wonderous machine we found nearby when you were first found," Cardinal Jinette replied, "It has the ability to take people to different worlds as well as different times. We have learned much about these Heartless creatures from our research and dissections of living specimens. We have also learned in the future they will consume many worlds. You must travel to the year 2004, to a world known as 'the Misfitverse'. It is an accursed world, populated by all sorts of bizarre and unholy creatures."

Filby went deeper into the recesses of the underground laboratory. If anything the Knights of the Holy Order were very meticulous about equipping their soldiers to face evil in any form. The hard working men who created the weapons in the lab were some of the finest minds from every faith on earth. Rabbis rubbed elbows with friars and mullahs with nigh serious conflict to mar relations.

Carl approached him, saying, "Here's your equipment you'll need for this mission."

As they walked by a couple lab benches, Carl picked up a weapon that resembled a crossbow but had a chamber of some sort in the stock and a cylindrical device underneath the weapon. "What is it?" Filby asked.

"I've heard the stories of the Heartless and the other enemies you'll likely encounter, you'll need this." Carl replied, "I've ironed out all the bugs from the original design. It has twice the ammunition capacity, there is a built in air compressor, and it still retains the automatic fire mode of the original."

Filby picked up a shotgun from the table and Carl handed him six cases of shotgun shells, "Three different loads. The red shells are standard buckshot, composed of silver nitrate, a substance proven to be almost instantly fatal to Heartless and serve well to fight them at close distances, especially if they fight in large numbers. The green shells are flechette rounds which fire seven stainless steel darts in a cone. It has the same reach as a buckshot round but does twice the damage, especially at close range. Finally the yellow shells are solid slugs, which have the longest reach and are best for opening locked doors."

"Of course your standard pistols for mid-range fighting." Carl said, "And for closer fights your shivs are still in place."

The friar was referring to a set of brass knucklers with razor sharp blades on the front. "Now this device goes on your right wrist and has a range of three to five meters. It's perfect for close in fighting."

Carl showed him a leather wrist guard that had a double barrel on it, and what looked like the components of a derringer pistol. "To fire the darts, which you can load with chemical concoctions or put rocket tips on, you merely need to squeeze your fist. To fire the derringer you simply press the stud on your right knuckler shiv with your thumb, it fires a .357 cartridge."

Carl handed him a rifle-like device, about the length of Filby's thigh. "This is the bola snare rifle, which fires weighted cables that entangles your prey and shocks them with electrical charges. The dial on the handgrip will adjust how much force the cable will be fired with, meaning if it is fired with enough force it can twist spines and necks enough to break them. At lower settings the weapon will merely immobilize enemies."

"What does this do?" Filby asked, hefting a stick about the length of his shotgun.

"Ah, that is a prototype weapon I call the shock stick. At close range it can be used as a melee weapon, powered by a rechargeable galvanic cell. I modeled it after Igor's weapon of choice from our Transylvania assignment, with some modification. Just above the adjustment dial on the hand grip is a button, use this to launch nets of a sticky substance identical to that of spider silk but strong enough to restrain the strongest bull." Carl said, "And that's all the specialized equipment you will need for this mission."

Filby carried the bags containing his equipment and walked up to the Time Machine. Underneath the control console was a heavy steel equipment locker. Four other machines had now been constructed by the scientists of the Vatican. For the purpose of scouting, three of the machines were one passenger affairs like the original model. The other had room for two occupants and needed equipment. He put the crystalline levers in place and activated the machine…

* * *

Roadblock, Cover Girl, Shipwreck, Spirit, Lowlight, and the Blind Master waited with Hal and Julie and the older Misfits in the lab where Lifeline, Trinity, and Airtight were dissecting the two weird creatures that Hal had killed earlier.

"What have you found?" Roadblock asked when he saw Airtight walk out of the room in his surgical attire.

"Well, it's humanoid for one." Airtight replied.

"We know that." Julie replied, "What have you found."

"The samples from that trail of black fluid near where Hal gunned them down indeed pass for blood for the creatures." Airtight replied, "It's a liquid with the average consistency of motor oil."

"You're saying they're mechanical?" Cover Girl asked.

"Not really, but they seem to use different chemical processes to supply the needed essences of life." Airtight replied, "But they are especially peculiar, because they do not have hearts."

"What?" Shipwreck replied, "There's no way a creature could live without something to circulate blood?"

"That's true." Spirit replied, "Even worms have a primitive pumping device to circulate their blood."

"When we dissected the first creature we thought it was an anomaly of some kind." Airtight replied, "But when we dissected the other creature we found a hard, bony chamber roughly the size of a human fist where a heart should be. Inside it was merely a vacuum."

"This is something we've never seen before." Lifeline said, removing the surgical mask he had been wearing, "It matches no known lifeform on earth today."

"Actually, Lifeline, my clan has some legends involving these creatures." Blind Master began, "These creatures originate from the Shadows and feed on the hearts of man. I'll need to contact Stormshadow and see if he can't tell me more about these things."

"Whoa, so you're saying these things are evil?" Julie asked.

"They are an evil more ancient than time itself." Blind Master confirmed, "Our clan has fought them for centuries, but for nearly three hundred years these beasts have not been seen or heard from."

"It seems that they have made a reappearance." Spirit replied.

"I'll go visit Stormshadow in Japan and see what I can learn." Blind Master replied and touched his teleportation watch, vanishing immediately.

"Lowlight, you and Maitland go out on a scouting patrol, I think it's time he gain some field experience." Roadblock said, "Follow that blood trail of the creature that survived the gunfight."

* * *

A blood trail, the creature had been wounded. Filby had hidden the Time Machine in a deep gulley and removed the control levers earlier. Almost as soon as he had recovered from the disorientation that time and space travel produced he had come upon the telltale trail of black blood.

He drew out the gas crossbow and flicked the switch to single fire mode. The occupants of this world had obviously discovered that the Heartless existed and wounded this one. As its tracks indicated, one of its legs had been injured. Wherever this creature would go, it would lead him to its horde, for Heartless rarely traveled alone.

The creature was limping when Filby located it, leaking blood as it headed to the drywash where its horde obviously hid. He aimed through the optical sight of the weapon and slowly squeezed the trigger, sending a crossbow bolt downrange at tremendous velocity.

Filby waited for a few more moments and to his surprise saw not only two Soldier Heartless and five Shadows, but about half a dozen strange looking soldiers wearing bluish uniforms with black trousers and carrying bandoliers of ammunition. They were led by a fellow wearing blue, a black coalscuttle helmet and an eye patch.

Too many to attack at any rate, this was bad, for the Heartless had already aligned themselves with the villains of this world. Obviously this eye patch wearer was their leader of their group. They surrounded the corpse of the creature, which lay killed by a crossbow bolt sticking out of its head.

"Range Viper, find the man responsible for this, he can't have gone far." The eye patched brigand ordered.

"Yes sir."

Filby began to sneak away from the high rocks he had been hiding on. Suddenly his foot slipped on a rock, sending it clattering. The Heartless and the Range Vipers turned towards the sound and Filby knew that stealth couldn't be relied on any longer. He flipped the switch to full automatic and sent a storm of crossbow bolts downrange. He saw both Soldier Heartless fall dead, each perforated by a half dozen crossbow bolts. One of those Range Viper soldiers fell, wounded, for he still aimed his odd rifle. The Range Vipers opened fire with their rifles.

Filby ducked behind the rocks as bullets skipped and bounced. He began to run away from the fight, throwing a smoke screen to obscure his path…

* * *

Lowlight and Maitland, both armed with telescopic rifles, the former carrying an H&K PSG-1 and the latter carrying an M24 SWS. The difference between the two weapons was that the former fired faster, one round whenever the trigger was pulled because it was semi-automatic and had more ammunition (10 rounds per magazine) whilst the later had only five rounds in the magazine and had to be manually recocked every time a bullet was fired. Both men also had M-16s, with Maitland having an M203 grenade launcher bolted to his.

Lowlight was leading the patrol when he raised his fist. Both men slung their sniper rifles and unslung their assault rifles. Just then what sounded like gunfire echoed to their right.

"Call the rest of the team." Lowlight said.

Maitland complied, the Misfits had been put on standby since the discovery of the strange creatures, they would be ready to respond. Just then a bullet cracked past his head. Hal fired a grenade from the 203 over the rocks where the COBRA had been firing from. He heard a blast and a truncated shout as a Range Viper was felled.

More Range Vipers and those strange creatures began to converge on their position and Low Light said, "Run! We'll rendezvous with the others later."

Low Light began to run, while Hal fired off a magazine downrange against the COBRAs and Heartless and fired off another 40mm grenade at a large cluster of their pursuers. As soon as Low Light got to a safer area, he began to fire his own M-16 off. As soon as his magazine was depleted, Hal had taken a position a few meters behind Lowlight and opened fire. The two men leapfrogged until they were able to break contact.

* * *

TBC (Up next: The gang meets Filby, and a bit more character exploration of my OCs) 


	3. Encounter

Encounter

Disclaimer: Same as before…

* * *

The Air Soldier Heartless dived out of the sky, with the intent of picking Filby up and dropping him on the desert floor after lifting him up a few hundred feet. As it neared him, Filby extracted his shotgun from the holster underneath his gray duster. The creature flew right into a cloud of buckshot and tumbled gracelessly from the air.

Two more of its contemporaries tried another approach angle and Filby blasted them both with clouds of shotgun fire. Just then a Soldier Heartless jumped onto his chest and he dropped the shotgun. The creature raised its claws to claw him and Filby quickly clenched his fists after sliding on a pair of hidden brass knucklers in his sleeves. He threw a punch, connecting with the underside of the creature's belly, slashing it open with the razor sharp blades. The Soldier Heartless staggered away, blood leaking between its fingers and for a moment Filby was tempted to feel compassion for the wounded beast.

But then he remembered that these loathsome fiends had stolen away his beloved Amelia and threw an uppercut into the creature's chin, decapitating it. He retrieved his shotgun and ran into a low wash, the remnants of some long dead river. He would likely encounter foes at closer ranges so the shotgun was his best bet.

* * *

"Lowlight and Maitland didn't kill these things, definitely." Cover Girl replied, as she stood over what looked like one of those creatures Hal had shot earlier. It lay on its back, with a crossbow bolt sticking out of its body. A few feet away lay several more of those things, each of them shot with the same weird weapon. The first one seemed to have been hit by sniping, the other ones were perforated with multiple crossbow bolts, indicating that the shooter was running away.

"Where are those two?" Shipwreck asked.

"According to the tracking sensors I put into their teleporter watches, they're not too far away." Arcade said, punching a couple buttons in on the hand held GPS/radar device, "And they've got company."

"Roadblock, take Xi, Spirit, Avalanche, Blob, and Quicksilver and get them back over to us. We'll follow the trail of whoever's been killing these things." Cover Girl replied.

"Toad, you're on point." Cover Girl said, I'll follow behind you, Scarlet Witch, Arcade, Firestar, Dragonfly, Wavedancer, and Shipwreck follow me."

"Why don't I stay behind you?" Shipwreck said.

"Shipwreck, not now!" Cover Girl remarked.

"Sorry…" Shipwreck said.

The two groups followed their respective leaders to their objectives. As the group lead by Cover Girl continued to follow the grisly trail of dead Heartless, they discovered that there were more species of the fiends.

"Hey Cover Girl, look." Arcade said, "Evidently those things come in different sizes."

Arcade indicated a creature similar to the other dead ones, except it was a bit taller and wore a knight's helmet with a visor, and wore what looked like a blue armored suit with a black heart that had a red "X" through it. The creature had been killed by the same crossbow bolts.

A few yards away lay a metal cylinder. Cover Girl picked it up, and while she was no armorer she could tell it was the magazine for the strange crossbow that had been used to kill several of the creatures.

Toad hopped back over the horizon where he had been scouting, "Hey Cover Girl, did you know those things could fly?"

"No, I didn't." Cover Girl said, "Why?"

"You should take a look at this." Toad replied.

As the rest of the team made it over the ridge they could see a creature that looked like a Shadow Heartless, but wore a leather aviator's helmet and had leathery wings. This one's wings looked like they'd been torn by bursts of buckshot from a shotgun. Two more of its comrades lay nearby, hit by the same weapon and a few feet away a Soldier Heartless lay decapitated.

Lina 'Dragonfly' Chakram looked sickened. Sure she had been trained for battle, but this was the first time she'd seen this much carnage. Following in the stranger's trail meant tripping over his handiwork of dead Heartless.

* * *

"About time you guys showed up!" Low Light quipped as he and Maitland were holed up amongst a patch of boulders, firing their weapons at any Heartless or Viper that came too close.

"Of all the times for your wonderful piece of technology to break!" Maitland growled, firing his sniper rifle.

"No gratitude…" Pietro quipped as he ran in circles around a trio of Shadow Heartless, creating gale force vortexes that lifted them into the air.

As he did so, Maitland and Lowlight fired their sniper rifles at the helpless enemies, killing them. Meanwhile Blob was facing off against a Heartless, a very large one to be sure, wearing some kind of armor and almost as big as himself. It swung it's meaty arms at the Blob who caught the blow with deceptive agility.

"Hey Blob," Pietro remarked as he made another votex that lifted a Soldier Heartless into the air, "You've finally found someone about your size."

The gunshot sounded as Low Light picked off Pietro's quarry. Blob picked up the Large Body, airplane spun it, and threw it into a cluster of Range Vipers that were shooting at Lowlight and Maitland.

Just then a torrent of gunfire came their way. "COBRA!!!" came the shout and a force of four armored cars and BATS (Battle Android Troopers) came running. Major Bludd was leading the group, "Get the freaks!"

Reinforcing the COBRAs were several Large Bodies and some flying Heartless. Lance made a gesture their way and the earth shook violently, creating a large hill in the paths of the attackers.

One of the flying Heartless dived towards the group and dive bombed Roadblock, knocking him over.

"Xi, Alley…." Fred began, gesturing at him and crouching down.

"…Oop!" Xi began, jumping on Fred's back and using Fred's upward momentum sprang into the air. While not as skilled a jumper as Toad, Xi had formidable agility, thanks to his genetic engineering. Xi leapt into the air, catching the Air Soldier on its terminal dive, knocking it away from Roadblock. He wrenched the creature's head from it's body, decapitating it, and hurled it's head like a football into a Soldier Heartless that stood atop Roadblock, ready to dismember him.

Xi then leapt from the spinning, headless Air Soldier and flipped end over end in mid air. He extended his legs and came plummeting towards Earth at an angle, towards Blob's back. On Fred's back was a pesky Air Soldier, just out of reach. Xi drop kicked it from almost a hundred feet in the air, and smashed it into the ground with the force of his fall.

"Hi five!" Fred said. He and Xi had made up this Alley Oop maneuver to counter the occasional jetpack equipped BAT.

Xi complied and ran to help Roadblock to his feet. "Great save, Xi." Roadblock said.

Lance created a wave of sand that bowled over a quartet of Soldier Heartless. Maitland then donated them a 40mm grenade from his M203. Nearby, Spirit was dodging several sword wielding Bandit Heartless. He struck one in the head with his tomahawk, barely dodged the other and ducked as the third swung its sword in a decapitating blow.

"Leave my Dad alone!!!" Lance shouted and gestured their way. The earth shook violently as Lance's eyes rolled into the back of his head and geysers of sand flew into the air, flinging the bandits airborne.

"Avalanche! Look out!" Fred shouted, as a Fat Bandit, a Heartless similar to a Large Body save for its ability to spit flames from its mouth, came striding into him. With a swing of its arms it knocked Lance over.

As it drew its breath in to spit flames, Fred Dukes, aka the Blob, stepped into its path. His invulnerable skin could not be burned through, but it still burnt away his shirt. Blob picked the creature up and turned its torrent of fire towards a band of Shadow Heartless running at Lance and Spirit, setting them on fire. He then hurled the fire breathing menace towards a COBRA armored car, destroying it, as the rest of the enemy reinforcements arrived and the fighting continued.

* * *

Filby reloaded his pistols quickly, the group of Heartless he had just shot up had a Search Ghost with them. From experience he knew that if a Search Ghost managed to escape alive, it would return with more Heartless to attack the unwary hunter. He hadn't survived being a monster hunter by making many mistakes, so he made sure all his weapons were reloaded before the next assault.

It came swiftly. Several Shadow and Soldier Heartless reinforced by a group of Air Soldiers attacked. In the tight spaces of the canyon this would be a close in fight. Filby pulled the gas crossbow and fired it on full auto at the Air Soldiers, turning the leader into an aerial pin cushion. It tumbled gracelessly from the skies over the horizon.

He turned it towards the attacking Shadows and Soldiers and squeezed the trigger, catapulting arrows that pierced armor and flesh, penetrating skulls, torsos, stomachs and spearing limbs. The results were devastating and Filby knew Carl was right about his invention being 'a work of certifiable genius'.

The Air Soldiers launched an attack run from two different directions and Filby hit the first one with a volley of arrows only to be knocked down by the second. He turned on his back and drew out his shock stick in time to see a Soldier Heartless leaping at him. He struck the creature head on with the weapon, hitting it with a fatal dose of electricity. He swung the weapon towards an Air Soldier that was almost on top of him, and he could smell the odor of burned flesh as the electrical current coursed through its body. It crashed head first into the ground. Filby retrieved the gas crossbow and put the shock stick away.

He kept firing the weapon, aiming it into crowds of Heartless at chest level and squeezing the trigger, sending storms of up to a dozen bolts into the crowds. Several wounded and dead Heartless fell from the ranks. Grimly Filby realized his quest to find Amelia might well be terminated here, in this Godforsaken desert. If it was the will of God that he would die here, he would take as many of the loathsome fiends with him as possible. Grimly he did a quick ammunition count. He had about seventy-five more arrows left for the gas crossbow, about one and a half cylinders. His pistols had twenty-four more rounds remaining, the shotgun had thirty, the dart shooters and holdout derringer had a dozen or so rounds apiece. At close range he would use the knucklers with their razor sharp blades at the ends of his fists.

* * *

"We can't be far." Toad said, as they heard gunshots further ahead.

Just then an Air Soldier tumbled gracelessly from the skies, its wings and body punctured by a barrage of the steel crossbow bolts. It collided solidly with Shipwreck.

"Dragonfly," Cover Girl ordered, "See what's going on over there."

"Yes ma'am." Dragonfly replied, and took off.

As Lina took off over the canyon she could see things much clearer than she could when she was on the ground. Flying, combined with the sharp senses inherent in her mutation, gave her a scouting ability that was priceless for the team.

Below she could see several of those creatures besieging a man wearing a gray duster over sturdy gray work clothing from the 19th Century, everything below his eyes was obscured by a gray bandana he used as a mask, like the bandits of the old Western films Fred was a big fan of. He was backed up against the side of a cliff with the strange monsters all around him. Several of the beasts lay killed in a variety of different ways.

Just then she could feel the wind gusts that heralded arrows flying past her. _He must think I'm the enemy. _Lina thought. She was so intent on watching the battle that she almost forgot that there were more of those flying things around. She turned around in time to see one of them latch onto her back behind the wings. The added weight and the creature's claw swipes made staying in the air difficult and she tumbled gracelessly to the earth right in front of the trigger happy stranger.

The weird creature raised its claws, with the intention of raking her across the face and Lina cringed, expecting the worst when the top half of the beast simply exploded. She turned to see the stranger holding a weapon that looked like a tube of wood and metal, one she recognized as a shotgun. The spray of pellets had torn her attacker in half at very close range.

"Who are you?" the man said, aiming the weapon at her.

"Lina Chakram, I'm here to help you. Hold on, I'm brining the rest of my group over!" Lina said, "Can you cover my takeoff."

The stranger nodded, his gray eyes showing the acknowledgement of an ally. He pumped his shotgun and blasted a creature that spun with its sword at point blank range, blowing a hole the size of a fist through its chest. He pumped the shotgun again, blasting another Bandit Heartless just below the neck, sending it rolling end over end. He pumped the shotgun again and blasted the head off another creature. He realized the shotgun was running low on ammunition so he fired his last round into a fourth Bandit and drew out his pistols. He was shooting steadily, but taking time to aim shots, not wasting bullets, because the pistols weren't like the shotgun which was a point and shoot sort of weapon.

Filby put the pistols away after he'd shot off the twelve rounds at his disposal and pulled the shock stick out again. It worked fairly well as a close in melee weapon earlier. He then noticed a higher ledge on the walls where he could fire down into the crowd. He drew out his grappling gun and fired a hook that burrowed into the rocks. He hit the retraction button and the action carried him into the air, out of the reach of the Heartless.

Filby reloaded his gas crossbow and took aim at a diving Air Soldier. He squeezed the trigger, hitting the creature with four bolts. Just then he saw a group of people approaching. The first person he saw was a youth with dirty blonde hair who traveled in the same manner as a frog.

* * *

"Whoa, right outta that Van Helsing movie!" Toad remarked, when he saw the masked stranger in gray shooting at the Heartless with the strange crossbow.

"Don't just stand there staring, Toad, help him out." Shipwreck replied, drawing out the two Desert Eagles he kept in holsters around his hips.

Toad somersaulted in mid air and kicked one of the winged Heartless that the stranger had missed with his strange weapon. Just then Scarlet Witch shouted, "Toad, clear off, I'm gonna try something."

Toad hopped clear, landing on the ledge next to the stranger. He spat out his acidic spit in projectiles at the four remaining Air Soldiers. "What are those things, yo?" Toad asked.

"They are a plague upon humanity. They seek to destroy your world." The stranger replied.

One of Toad's projectiles struck home and the Air Soldier began to disintegrate as the acid melted every part of its body that was touched. It stumbled into the ranks of some other Heartless on the ground which Shipwreck promptly gunned down.

Scarlet Witch, meanwhile, had begun to power up and hurled the Air Soldier Toad had leapt on earlier into a patch of cacti. Then she had a flash of inspiration. Remembering that the day before she had used it to attack Pietro the day before she began to power up, focusing her great ability of hexing upon the cacti. Each cactus began to uproot itself, coming alive to attack the Heartless.

"All Right Scarlet Witch!" Firestar whooped. She gestured and a gout of flames as she swooped down onto the Heartless, a cluster of them on fire.

Between Scarlet Witch and her cactus army, the assorted powers of the Misfits, and the stranger's skill with his myriad of strange weapons the Heartless that weren't killed retreated in a hurry, leaving the corpses of their dead kin behind.

"Where are you going?" Cover Girl asked the masked stranger as the group got back together.

"I must pursue and kill these abominations to God." The stranger replied.

"Not alone you aren't." Shipwreck said.

"I have hunted and killed these vermin on my own for five years, I do not need help." The stranger replied.

"If it hadn't been for us, you would have been through." Shipwreck retorted.

"True." The stranger said, "I owe you a debt that I must now repay."

"Listen, why don't you come back with us?" Cover Girl offered, "Tell us what those things you were fighting are and all."

"I shall." The stranger replied.

"Who are you?" Shipwreck asked.

The stranger unmasked himself, pulling the cloth below his eyes down, revealing a face of a man in his mid-twenties, weathered by years of hardship and fighting. "My name is Filbert Maitland and the creatures you fight are known as the Heartless…"

"Save the explaining for later." Cover Girl said, "Roadblock and his group are in some trouble at the end of the canyon."

* * *

"'Bout time you guys showed up…" Roadblock remarked as he reloaded his weapon.

Scarlet Witch powered up again and hurled a boulder, using her powers, into one of the COBRA armored cars, smashing it.

"Aim for their leader!" Low Light ordered.

"I can't get a bead on him." Hal replied, snapping off a shot with his M24 at a Bandit Heartless that would have decapitated Shipwreck.

Xi was backed up against a rock wall by a trio of Bandits. They slashed and stabbed with their swords, staying out of reach. Xi was barely dodging their speedy swings, and had sustained several shallow, but painful cuts. He was underneath Low Light and Maitland's position so their telescopic rifles wouldn't be able to help him.

Avalanche was currently wrestling with two Shadow Heartless that had jumped onto his back and Quicksilver was struggling with a pair of Air Soldiers that were carrying him aloft. Blob was too busy attempting to knock out a Large Body that had tried to squash Xi like a pancake.

Filby aimed the gas crossbow at one of Quicksilver's attackers and opened fire. His arrows killed both creatures, sending Quicksilver falling into a patch of chola catci.

"Not again!!!" Quicksilver said as he fell. He leapt into the air with a loud, "YEOUCH!!!"

Scarlet Witch saw this and began to hex the cacti which immediately came to life and started attacking the Heartless and the organic COBRAs. Low Light and Maitland were shooting up the BATS with their telescopic rifles and their M-16s. Before Quicksilver could fall again, he found his sister's powers were keeping him off the ground.

Blob was trying to match the Large Body pound for pound, but beating up on two such creatures earlier was starting to sap his strength. It was like three sumo matches one after the other and the creatures had the advantage of numbers. Just then the creature's head flew off as Dragonfly's sword-like wings slashed through its neck.

As a Bandit Heartless was about to run Xi through, a hexed cactus picked it up and hurled it into its fellows. Scarlet Witch's face was flush with concentration as she animated all the cacti she could see, using them as a thorny attack force against the COBRAs.

"YEOW! OUCH!" Major Bludd shouted, "Retreat! We'll return!!!"

"Way to go Scarlet Witch!" Shipwreck shouted.

Wanda was so caught up in the action that Shipwreck's shout startled her. She dropped Pietro in her surprise and he landed on top of a particularly massive saguaro cactus.

"OUCH!!!!!" Pietro shouted.

"We'd best get back to base, so we can try and figure out what COBRA was up to and what those things are." Roadblock said.

"Not to mention get the story on our strange new friend over there." Shipwreck said, and realized it might not be smart to insult someone with a gas crossbow, "No offense."

"None taken, on some worlds I have been called far worse." Filby replied, replacing his gas crossbow.

* * *

TBC (Up next: More character exploration, fluff, and information.) 


	4. Hatikva

Hatikva

Disclaimer: Same as before…BTW type in the title of this chapter into Google to find sound files of this wonderfully haunting piece.

"Kol od balevav p'nimah  
Nefesh Yehudi homiyah  
Ulfa'atey mizrach kadimah  
Ayin l'tzion tzofiyah  
Od lo avdah tikvatenu  
Hatikvah bat shnot alpayim  
L'hiyot am chofshi b'artzenu -  
Eretz Tzion v'Yerushalayim." – Hatikva, National Anthem of Israel

(Translation):

"As long as deep in the heart,  
The soul of a Jew yearns,  
And forward to the East  
To Zion, an eye looks  
Our hope will not be lost,  
The hope of two thousand years,  
To be a free nation in our land,  
The land of Zion and Jerusalem."

* * *

Hal Maitland went into his room after the battle. He was still clad in his dusty, olive green Israeli issued fatigues. He silently extracted an old wooden rosary, its beads and crucifix careworn from years of use. After every engagement he fought in he prayed both for himself and his unit and for the souls of the men he killed.

"Our Father who art in heaven. Hallowed be thy name. Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done…" Hal began.

There was a knock on the frame of his door just then and Hal looked up to see Julie standing in the doorway arch, "Hey, Roadblock just called a meeting in fifteen minutes and he wants everyone down there now."

Hal tucked his rosary into one of his olive cargo pockets. In the decade since he had sworn his oath at the fortress of Masada he had gained many memories he did not want. Even beforehand dreams had filled his mind of fighting the Roman legionaries overlooking the Dead Sea.

Julie's statement broke him out of his reverie, "How does a Canadian Catholic wind up fighting for a Jewish country?"

"When that country's been like a second home for you since you were nine years old, its trials and travails grow on you." Hal replied.

Her training as an intelligence officer told Julie this certainly wasn't the only reason the Canadian had spent ten years fighting in the Middle East. It also told her there was no way she was going to pry this information out of him so soon.

"How did you wind up in Israel?" Julie asked as they walked into the den and sat down on one of the couches.

"My parents are archaeologists who have a specialty in Mediterranean societies so I lived with them at their various dig sites ranging from Spain to Syria. Israel however was the country that grew on me because mom and dad were with the same team of archaeologists every year." Hal replied, his face taking a wistful air as he transported himself away to fantasyland of memories, "We excavated sites throughout the Holy Land during the summers when Mom and Dad worked for this non-denominational and international archaeological group. My three closest friends, Moky, Margot, and Derek were with two families of American archaeologists."

"Every summer for eleven years we would see each other face to face, keeping in touch by letters and the phone during the rest of the year. They lived in Michigan we lived in Nova Scotia. I started going native in Israel when I was a teenager." Hal replied.

"You guys can get to know each other some other time." Low Light said, "Roadblock's changed the meeting location, we're going to the lab where the strange guy's gonna brief Lifeline and Airtight about those creatures we were fighting. Atkins, get in the jeep, you have about half an hour to prepare to brief the senior staff on what these things are."

* * *

"You certainly have seen a lot of fighting over the years." Lifeline remarked as a now shirtless Filby sat on the examination table. On his lean, muscled frame Filby carried the scars of puncture marks, claw scratches and what appeared to be the scarring of a deeper cut made by a sword. The X-rays of Filby's body revealed the same story; the bones seemed to have been knit back together from fractures.

"To drive the evil ones from my world, I endured my share of hardships." Filby said.

Airtight held up the gas crossbow, "Who makes these things?"

Filby hesitated momentarily, "I did. I created, bought, or modified all the weapons you see before you."

Despite their friendliness, they could not know of the existence of the Knights of the Holy Order. As Cardinal Jinette said, "We do not exist."

If he compromised the organization, if he told them he might compromise mankind's only hope against the forces of evil. Filby couldn't do that, he would simply tell them the cover story he invented if pressed for further detail. It was just then that the blonde woman in the nurse's uniform and the other woman wearing a light blue blouse and a dark blue, knee length skirt walked in.

Lifeline said, "Filbert Maitland, this is my wife, Bree, and Captain Atkins, our intelligence officer."

Secretly Julie was relieved that she was sent ahead of the Misfits to prepare the briefing. It wasn't that she hated mutants; it was just that they really unnerved her. They had abilities that were well beyond the comprehension of human beings. If they decided to use their powers against human beings…

Julie didn't want to think about that particular scenario. She had seen the footage of the destruction wreaked by Juggernaut when he had been freed. She had read the reports, many of them centered around the area of Bayville, but also spread throughout the world. There were mutants with all sorts of bizarre abilities, including ones that could mess with her mind if they so chose…

_Focus, Julie, remember the task at hand. _Julie chided herself. _Remember General Eddington's orders…_

* * *

"What is with Captain Atkins?" Althea asked Hal as they drove down the road towards the laboratory complex.

"What about her." Hal replied, "I've only just met her."

"She seems kinda standoffish, like she's afraid of us." Althea replied, "I don't trust her. I mean there are people at the Pentagon that have wanted to either ice the Misfits and the Joes. How do we know Eddington didn't plant her here?"

"We don't. And even if she is," Hal replied, "She is a teammate of ours, we'll treat her like we treat anyone else and…"

"Is not!"

"Is too!"

"Take that back!"

"Make me!" came the shout from the back seat.

"Lance, Pietro, what could you two _possibly _be arguing about **_now_**?" Hal replied as he turned around

"Face it Lance, it isn't going to last." Pietro said, "Kitty just loves to string you along and you…"

"DIE!" Lance shouted, and began to roll his eyes into his head. The earth shook violently, as did the jeep.

"Avalanche! Stop this nonsense this instant!" Hal shouted, "That's better. Wait until we've stopped driving to kill one another."

"I don't need my powers to deal with this prissy little lunatic." Lance replied.

"The pot's calling the kettle black! Who writes those stuuupid little love poems for Kitty?" Pietro replied.

"Now now you two, let's find our calm centers and relax…" Fred said, in his best Psychiatrist-Fred voice, "Breathe in and out. Yes Lance, you're doing nicely."

Lance's face was turning red and he was just about hyperventilating with fury at the cutting remarks Pietro had just fired downrange at him.

"Keep up the nice breathing exercises Lance." Fred said, in the same, silky smooth tone everyone associated with Psychiatrist Fred, "Now about Captain Atkins, she's the real victim here."

"How so?" Hal asked.

"Well for one she seems very tense whenever she meets us." Fred replied, calmly.

"Fred, that's no different than anyone else you big oaf, **_everybody_**, tenses up when they meet us." Pietro began.

"Not General Hawk, or General Whithalf, or Low Light, or Shipwreck or…" Fred began ticking examples off his fingers.

"I meant everybody outside of this base, dingbat." Pietro replied.

"Anyway," Fred began, "Before I was so rudely interrupted I wanted to say that Captain Atkins seems to suffer from Mutaphobia."

"What?" Hal asked.

"It's a form of Xenophobia but relates to mutants. It's a psychiatric disorder where otherwise normal people become phobic in the presence of mutants." Fred replied.

"So even if this Eddington fellow I've been briefed about planted Captain Atkins in our midst, he obviously knows about her phobia and is using that to his advantage." Hal replied.

"So what's the verdict?" Althea asked.

"I can't speak for the other adults, but I can say, treat her like any othermember of the GI Joe team." Hal replied. Just then his cell phone went off and he dug into his pocket and picked it up. After a few minutes of listening he said, "I'm sorry guys, but it seems like Trinity's got a hold of Beach Head again and Shipwreck's trying to fix the damage."

"You were saying..." Althea quipped.

* * *

"So can she be helped?" Hawk said as he walked along with Psyche-Out.

"Difficult to say." Psyche Out replied, "It's a bit early in the therapy, but it is indeed the case, she does sufer from Mutaphobia, but it's milder than most."

"What do you mean milder?" Hawk asked.

"Her fear is manifested by cold sweats, occasional claustrophobia, and nervous tension." Psyche Out began, "She can be helped by immersion therapy."

"You mean keeping her with the team?" Hawk said.

"Yes, she'll grow used to them in time, maybe even bond with them." Psyche Out replied, "And with regular counseling she should be fine."

"And what about Eddington practically shoving her down my throat? It can't be a coincidence. She could be…" Hawk began.

"A mole, yes sir." Psyche Out replied, "Personally I suggest feed her false information like you would to any spy. Perhaps she'll eventually bond with the Misfits and I'll be able to help her."

* * *

_Calm down, they aren't going to harm you. _Julie thought. Outwardly she exuded the calm and grace generations of growing up among the high society of the East Coast would bring, inwardly her heart was beating like a snare drum with a spastic drummer. _Think of the babies, they're kinda cute. Just stop sweating so much…_

"The creatures killed by Lieutenant Maitland are known as the Heartless." Julie began, "Our mysterious visitor gave us that name and mentioned something about a fellow named Ansem. We still don't have any information on him at this time."

As Julie made the report she felt her nervousness fade away. Work seemed to help ease the fear. _Remember, focus on the babies, they're kind of cute…_Julie thought. "But when Blind Master showed up earlier and spoke to our newcomer, he learned that the Heartless and the mysterious beasts he and another ninja clan known as The Brotherhood of Life have been fighting for centuries are one and the same."

Julie had been running through a power point presentation as she spoke, showing pictures of the dissected Heartless, various drawings and the like. "Any questions?" Julie asked.

"Yes, where's our new visitor going to stay?" Low Light asked.

"At the house, of course." Shipwreck replied.

"The house is already a bit crowded with Maitland and Atkins." Low Light remarked. "Where is he going to sleep?"

"He's gonna have to have a roomie of course." Shipwreck said, "And I guess Hal's room will do."

"Wait a minute?" Hal asked "Why me?"

"You're the new guy, and I think Hawk might object if we roomed Filby with Captain Atkins." Low Light replied.

* * *

"Here's your bed right over here." Hal said to Filby, "It's closer to the window than mine is."

As Filby walked into the room of the man who introduced himself as Harold, but preferred to be called Hal, he noticed the room seemed to be that of a person who had just moved in. He could recognized areas of the Palestinian desert, an area that Hal had said was a place called Israel.

"So you were in the Israelite army?" Filby asked Hal, as the latter hung up a picture of eight men ranging in age from twenty-two to forty carrying strange looking rifles and wearing the same olive green uniform that Hal wore.

"It's the Israeli army, and yes I was." Hal replied, "For three years and I served in the MAGAV or Border Guard's, undercover Counter Terrorist unit, called YAMAS, for seven years. We dress like Arabs and infiltrate Palestinian terrorist cells to kill or capture their leaders."

"Arab terrorists? Israel is a nation?" Filby replied, "It is a confusing world."

"It can be, and I live in it." Hal replied, "Those are my team mates from YAMAS."

"And these people?" Filby asked, indicating a framed photograph beside Hal's bed. The fellow with the short black hair and wearing jeans, a gray t-shirt and a desert tan jacket was obviously a younger Hal perhaps seventeen years old. The other three people were a girl of seventeen years with short blonde hair and brown eyes and a slim figure, a brown haired boy wearing a green sweater, brown vest, and brown trousers of sixteen years of age, and a smaller boy, of Hispanic origins with brown skin and black hair wearing a Metts baseball cap.

"That's me as a kid." Hal replied, "And the others are Margot, Derek and Moky. They're childhood friends of mine."

There was a certain melancholy in Hal's voice that Filby was able to detect as someone who had suffered loss. He could detect a kindred spirit in Hal, a fellow who had been fighting for ten years against a shadowy foe.

"HELP!!!!" came the shout, "NO! Not the lightning rod! Not the lightning rod!"

"What's going on?" Filby said, grabbing his shotgun and chambering a shell.

"Oh dear, it sounds like Trinity has got a hold of Pietro." Hal replied as he headed out into the hallway.

"Trinity? Pietro?" Filby said, "Can you slow down, my friend, I'm still trying to learn everyone's names."

"Pietro was the kid with the silver hair…" Hal began.

"And the attention span of a hyperactive preschooler." Julie snapped as she walked into the hallway in her silk pajamas.

"Somebody's in a mood." Hal remarked.

"Aren't you?" Julie replied, "These kids are maniacs!"

"So are kids anywhere else!" Hal protested, "At my old dig site we used to drive the adults crazy all the time. I remember one incident where Moky accidentally set the tent with the Fourth of July firecrackers on fire."

"HELP! SAVE ME! WAAAGGHHH!!!" Pietro screamed.

"What's going on here? What kind of madhouse is this? What did I just get myself into?" Julie said, visibly upset.

"Lets just say that Pietro was sticking his nose where it didn't belong, namely in my journal," Wanda said, "He got his just deserts."

ZZAAAP! "Huh, what's cooking?" Pietro said, "MEEEEEE! YEOUCH!!!!!!"

"I rest my case." Julie said, folding her arms across her chest.

"Kids will be kids." Hal replied, "Besides, at the dig site…"

"Will you stop the dig site stories!!!" Julie and Filby both snapped at Hal, "You've been telling them since you've known me!"

"And you've been telling them since you drove me back here!" Filby said, "I do like history, but did the lot of you lads at the dig site have to cause that camel stampede through the desert!?"

"Will you guys stop arguing out there and save me…?" Pietro screamed, "NO! Not the feather tickler! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! NO!!!! ARRAGGGHHHHH!!! Agh! Agh! Agh!"

Shipwreck came staggering out of his room saying, "Trinity, you can torture Pietro tomorrow morning, can you just let this house get some sleep!?"

Shipwreck entered the Triplet's room wearing only his sweatpants and a wife beater t-shirt. He cut Pietro, who was wearing the torn up remnants of his uniform and a pair of boxer shorts with red rocket ships on them.

"The horror! The horror!" Pietro moaned. Just then he heard the click of a camera shutter.

"Hey Quickie!" Lance said, "It looks like your rocket ship underpants aren't so lucky after all! Ha ha ha!"

Pietro said, "Give those negatives to me Lance…"

"No way!" Lance said, "These will be great for blackmail later on…"

"Oh no you don't!" Pietro shouted.

"I wonder how Tabby will like this picture of you in your wucky widdle wocket ship underpants…" Lance said.

"Oh no you don't!" Pietro snarled, and tackled him, "DIE!"

The two boys brawled through the hall as the babies woke and bawled. Julie turned towards Shipwreck with more than a little worry etched into her face, "Is this normal?"

"I'm afraid so. Drink anyone?" Shipwreck said.

"Count me in." Filby said.

"Me too." Hal replied.

"Count me out." Julie replied as she walked into her room and slammed the door.

* * *

TBC 


	5. Obligatory Random Adult Torture

Obligatory Random Adult Torture

Disclaimer: Same as before…

RoguefanKC - Don't worry I'll get into detail on Filby shortly. I just had to get this insanity outta my head.

* * *

"How's everything going Julie?" Cover Girl asked as she walked into the kitchen where Julie was writing up Monday's lesson plan that Sunday afternoon.

"Adjusting." Julie said, diplomatically. She'd already gotten used to the rather informal command structure GI Joe had.

"These kids sure are a handful aren't they?" Cover Girl asked, good naturedly.

"Yeah." Julie replied. She and Hal had been worked into the teaching rotation of the Misfits. Hal would teach history and Julie would teach geography and politics, "Where are the kids?"

"Hal's out teaching them lessons in undercover tactics." Cover Girl said, "What's on the agenda?"

"Geography." Julie replied, "My specialty is intelligence, mostly human intelligence but I'm good enough with maps to have a secondary specialty."

"Is that why Ace is taking you up in one of the F-15s this afternoon?" Cover Girl asked.

"It's to keep up my qualifications with aerial navigation." Julie said, "Though I'm a lot more comfortable behind a desk interpreting maps."

"Hence the motion sickness pills." Cover Girl said.

"When I'm used to flying after a couple months I don't need them, but I haven't flown for a few years." Julie said. Just then she heard the honking of a horn.

Cover Girl followed her outside shouting, "No need to be so impatient, Ace!" Cover Girl shouted.

Two other passengers were in the jeep, Bree and Lina who had been doing some more medical training on the other side of the base. Bree was about to teach Lina pediatric nursing so that she could help out more with Claudius and Barney.

"Ready for your flight this afternoon, Captain?" Ace asked, with a merry twinkle in his eyes.

"Yes sir." Julie replied, knowing she was addressing a colonel.

"Relax, if you haven't guessed we go by codenames usually. Mine's Ace."

"I don't have one yet." Julie replied, "I'm still in training."

"We'll think one up for you later on." Ace said, "Where are you from?"

"Martha's Vineyard." Julie replied.

"I'm from Providence myself." Ace replied, "Hop aboard for the flight of your life."

_Oh great. Another of those crazy flyboys. _Julie thought.

* * *

"What my senior NCOs and instructors always taught me was this: 'When you are in Gaza, act like you are from Gaza.' By that they meant not just dress like the local Palestinians, but speak like them, act like them, eat like them." Hal replied.

"But some of us just can't be disguised." Althea said, "What about Lina?"

"It depends on the region of the world, really." Hal replied, "For us in Gaza, if we had a fellow that was too European looking we simply either made him wear a shamag (head dress) or dressed him as a woman with all the layers of robes and veils."

"But what about for around here?" Pietro said, "You can't exactly hide someone like the Blob very easily. Even under all those robes he's not exactly a very small guy."

"You're awfully bold for someone so small." Blob replied.

"You do have a point Pietro, but for an infiltration mission Fred would have the equally important role as backup." Hal replied, "We always had an unmarked van or two with our command element and a squad or two of heavily armed troopers in full battle gear ready to pull the undercover guys out."

"You on the other hand," Hal replied whilst grinning, "Could pass for a woman especially if properly dressed."

"Oh no! You are NOT getting me to cross dress!" Pietro shouted.

Five minutes later: "Pietro, you're not a bad looking chick." Lance remarked.

Pietro was wearing a pair of feminine blue jeans, a white cotton blouse and a blonde wig. "Oh please, you've made my hips too big. You've put too much junk in my trunk!"

"Pietro." Wanda said, "Your hips are just fine."

"Who's up for a field trip?" Hal asked, "I guarantee Pietro at least half a dozen will ask for your phone number…"

Just then Roadblock wandered in and said, "What's going on here? Where's Quicksilver."

"Over here."

"Where? And who's the girl?" Roadblock asked.

"Her name's Pearl." Hal replied grinning, "Pietro's in the bathroom."

"Have we met before, Miss?" Roadblock asked, "After all my memory is slightly remiss."

_This is great. What better way to sell the idea of undercover tactics to them? COBRA always has enjoyed a slight edge over the Joes in this arena. _Hal thought.

"OK, be sure you don't show Pearl any sensitive areas." Roadblock said, "Especially not the tanks…"

As soon as Roadblock was out of earshot Lance said, "That was great! It really worked."

"Disguise is a simple yet effective art." Hal replied as Pietro changed back into normal clothing, "But it never helps to go a bit over the top. Think of your most distinct feature and how best to camouflage or conceal it. For a taller man, just hunch down a bit, for a hairless one just wear a wig and so on."

* * *

The F-15E soared over the Slaughterhouse, where the objective was to take photographs. Ace was practicing using the various camera implements posted on the Strike Eagle where Julie was practicing directing his runs.

"Come in from the South East and pop up five miles from the base and go to about 40,000 feet." Julie said, glancing at her map, "The defenses will have the least amount of time to pick us up on radar that way."

_You can do this without getting air sick. You've done this before. _Julie thought and said, "Ace, unless its absolutely necessary can you try not to make any su…."

That sentence died in mid-word when Ace pulled the F-15 into a 90 degree climb. _You crazy bastard…_Julie thought, _You crazy bastard. You crazy bastard._

"Man that feels good!" Ace said, "How are you back there, Captain?"

"I'm surviving." Julie said, weakly.

They made their photographic reconnaissance of the target without incident. "What were you about to say?" Ace asked.

"I was going to ask, if at all possible not to make any sudden…" Julie began.

Suddenly the radar warning light on Ace's console beeped loudly. "Uh-oh, the Renegades are sharper than they look, they've got radar lock, hang on!"

"…moves." Julie finished as Ace threw the fighter into a tight turn, pulling about seven times the force of gravity. _This is why I volunteered for ground intelligence…_ Julie thought.

The warning light beeped again and Ace flipped the fighter upside down and pulled back on the stick to pull half of an Immelman turn. The fighter pulled another few g's inverted as it flew in a half circle towards the ground.

"Are you alive back there, Captain?" Ace asked.

"Barely." Julie groaned as the Strike Eagle leveled off.

"Man there's nothing like pulling a few g's to get the blood flowing. Woohoo!" Ace said, excitedly from the front.

"I can think of a few things." Julie thought, "What about roller coasters, diving with sharks, or hang gliding."

"I tried those things in high school but I got too bored." Ace replied casually, "Wait a minute, I've got just the thing…"

"I'll pass, really, I'll pass." Julie replied. Her protest went unheard as Ace flew at just about tree top level.

Ace jammed the throttle on full, turning on the afterburners and smiled as he saw Julie's eyes widen over her oxygen mask. _These Intel types don't know what they're missing. _Ace thought. He pulled the aircraft into another nearly vertical climb and as the fighter began to stall he pulled backward on the stick and let it do a loop. He let the plane free dive for a few thousand feet and then leveled off.

_Thank you God. _Julie thought, but then she saw a mischievous look in Ace's eyes through his rear view mirror.

Ace put the plane in several barrel rolls, listening with amusement as the intelligence officer behind him gasped fearfully and practically clung to the rails that the navigator usually grabbed in sudden maneuvers. As Ace glanced at the fuel gauge he knew the fun was over and he had to head back home.

"Well, we're heading in for a landing, enjoy your flight?" Ace said.

Julie didn't say anything as she unstrapped her oxygen mask but glared at Ace with a malevolent stare.

* * *

Hal had been waiting at the tarmac with the jeep for about half an hour with a copy of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's _A Study in Scarlet _in his hands. He had just been assigned to pick Julie up from the runway as soon as she had finished her mission.

He saw two figures in full flight gear, their helmets tucked in under their arms. The female of the pair looked fairly queasy if Hal was any judge. Julie put her helmet back into the storage locker and stalked off towards the jeep.

"I'm going to kill him." Julie began, "I'm going to kill him."

"Who?" Hal asked.

"Ace." Julie replied, "Crazy flyboys. I understand turning to avoid missiles but…"

Hal began to laugh as he put the book into one of his cargo pockets. His partner certainly wasn't a very brave flier.

"Hal, unless you want me to 'suddenly' become airsick all over you…" Julie began.

"Sorry." Hal replied, still grinning behind the sunglasses.

_Oh this is great. My Air Force partner is afraid of flying. This is priceless. _Hal replied.

_Canadian-Israel sadist. _Julie thought. _I'll find **something **to get him back for… _

"Hey I got the word on the chore list." Julie began, "You're going to be cleaning out the shed."

"Not bad." Hal replied, "It could be worse."

"Well Shipwreck says the lights haven't been working for a while so there may be a bat or two in there." Julie began.

"Bat?" Hal said, practically slamming the brakes as they reached a nearby stop sign, "What _bat?" _

_This is great! _Julie grinned sadistically, "The family of bats that are living in the garden shed right now. I'm sure the big, bad Israeli commando can handle a few measly bats…"

"Have you ever **seen **a bat!?" Hal began, looking at his partner's ever widening smile, "They're hideous! Lifeless beady eyes! Huge grotesque wings, clawed feet! Long fangs that…"

"If that's going to be a problem I can just give the job to Arcade…" Julie began.

"Absolutely not! I'll be just fine." Hal replied, "How many bats are there?"

"Shipwreck thinks its about two…" Julie began.

"That's a relief." Hal replied.

"…or three dozen." Julie replied malevolently.

"Oh great." Hal replied.

* * *

"Awk! Pesky bats. Pesky bats." Polly said as the jeep pulled into the driveway.

"What now?" Hal asked.

"Those stupid bats." Shipwreck groaned. It was now sundown and the bats had been especially pesky of late.

"Well, never fear." Julie grinned, "The bat exterminator is here."

The three adults and one parrot walked up to the shed. Hal peeked inside and said, "Well everything seems good. You can speculate all you want but unless you check it out for yourself…"

"Don't you think you should investigate?" Julie asked innocently.

"There's no reason to go in there. Ever." Hal replied.

"Don't be silly." Julie began and handed Hal her flashlight, "Here take this."

Hal turned on the flashlight with a sour expression and went inside the shed. "I am not afraid." He began, "I am not afraid."

"I really like it here." Hal said, waving the flashlight like a club. It was then that he found what looked like a shred of gray cloth with a COBRA insignia on it on a nail sticking out of the wall.

Just then he heard a familiar squeak. He picked up a baseball on the ground. "I will fear nothing living in this shed as long as this is near me."

There was a sudden squeak then. "Take THAT you winged spawn of SATAN!" Hal shouted.

The ball hit the roof and bounced back, hitting Hal on the head. "Ouch." Hal groaned.

Another squeak sounded then. "DIE DEVIL BIRD!!!" Hal shouted, throwing the flashlight.

The room went dark just then. "I'm OK." Hal began. Then another squeak.

Outside Julie was counting seconds on her watch. "Three…two…one."

"Away Demon Birds!!" Hal came running out of the shed with a few dozen bats chasing him, he was swinging a one handed hatchet, unsuccessfully, at the bats who merely flew out of reach, chittering in a strange, almost laughter like form.

Julie began to laugh, "Turnabout fair play."

"What have you got there, Hal?" Shipwreck asked.

"It's a bit of gray cloth, with a Cobra emblem." Hal began, "What COBRA operatives wear grey, usually."

"Firefly." Shipwreck said, grimly, "Looks like he's been sneaking around."

* * *

TBC 


End file.
